Spike



G. W. SMITH.

(No Model.)

SPIKE.

F w m f 6666666 n e I m f m. C b i A 5 Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

. r 4m m minesses'.

vUNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE IV. SMITH, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SPIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,081, dated March 25, 1890.

Application filed January 9 1890- Serial No. 336,429. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W'. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Spikes, of which the following is a full and complete specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the spike. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of my spike.

My invention relates to that class of spikes which are used for the purpose of securing the rails of a railroad to the cross-ties; and the purpose of my invention is to provide a spike with means by which it may be held into the tie with greater security than is possible with an ordinary straight-sided spike. The straight-sided spike will draw out of the cross-tie with about one-half or one-third of the amount of pressure necessary to withdraw the spike which I have made.

It will be seen by the drawings thatI have provided my spike on either side with two rows of notches. These notches are upon the sides of the spike, and intermediate between them is a web. The purpose of the notches is to permit the fiber of the wood to embed it.- self in the notches after the spike has been driven in, and thereby get a much tighter grip upon the spike than would be the case if the sideswere straight.

In the drawings, a represents the body of the spike, and b b the notches.

0 represents an intermediate web.

It is very desirable in making a spike of this kind-and this constitutes one of the important features of my invention-to provide a web between the two series of notches b b, for the purpose of holding the fiber of the wood out of the path of the notches to some extent while the spike is being driven home. If this is not done, the fiber will be cut by the edges of the notches, and thereby scraped off and prevented from entering the notches as the spike is withdrawn. The notches are made inclined from the web outward and up- -ward, so that as the spike is driven in the tendency of the fiber will be to be pushed to one side, or out of the path of the spike, whereas when the spike is withdrawn the tendency of the notch will be to draw the fiber in toward the web between the notches, and thereby get a stronger grip upon the wood.

The shape in cross-section of my spike constitutes another feature of my invention. I have found that by making the sides of my spike wedge-shaped and putting the notches in the inclined faces of the. wedges I accomplish a very much better result than by any other form of spike. The cross-section of my spike is hexagonal in form and has two adjacent sides provided with rows of notches inclining upward and extending across said sides from a longitudinal web at the intersection of said sides. I attribute this advantage to the fact that the wedge-shaped sides of the spike push the fiber of the wood to one side instead ofi downward, thereby compressing it rather than breaking or cutting it away. When the fiber expands, it enters the notches in a position more nearly horizontal than would be possible were any other form of spike used. The fiber seems to be less 111- jur'ed by this form than any other. It will of course be seen that I may notch but one side of my spike, if so desired.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A railroad-spike hexagonal 1n cross-sectl0n,having two adjacent sides provided with rows of notches inclined upward and extending across said sides from a longitudinal web at the intersection of said sides.

2. A railroad-spike hexagonal in cross-section, having two adjacent sides which are inclined at an acute angle to one another, each of said sides being provided with a row of notches inclined upward and extending across said sides from a longitudinal web at the intersection of said sides.

GEORGE W. SMITH. WVitnesses:

B. H. I-IoBBs, ARTHUR STEUART. 

